Baby care:Nail trimming

Keeping your baby's nails trimmed is important so that she does not scratch her sensitive face. Most new parents are nervous, or even scared, to cut their newborn's fingernails. Your baby has little to no control over her flailing arms and her overgrown nails can cut her face and other parts of her body. After birth, you may notice that your baby's fingernails are already overgrown and need to be trimmed. A newborn's fingernails are very soft and cutting them is easy.

There are several ways to keep your baby's fingernails trimmed. Many doctors do not recommend using actual fingernail clippers on a newborn. You can file the fingernails down with a fingernail file, use baby nail scissors or bite them off. Be careful not to file or bite the nails down too far. When the nails become stronger, you will be able to use real fingernail clippers on them.

The tricky part of nail clipping is trying to get your baby to hold still long enough to trim all of his fingernails. If your baby sleeps soundly or you don't mind potentially waking him, it might be easiest to trim his nails while he is sleeping. If you decide to cut his nails while he is awake, it is best to have an assistant nearby that can hold your baby's hands steady for you.

To avoid nipping your baby's skin as you clip the fingernail, press his finger pad down and out of the way as you cut. No matter how careful you are, there is always the possibility of cutting his skin and possibly drawing blood. Most mothers accidentally cut their baby's skin at some point. Simply apply pressure with a sterile gauze until the bleeding stops. To reduce the chances of your baby biting the bandaid off and choking on it, do not put a bandaid on your baby's finger.

Comments: Baby care - Nail-trimming

Comments 1 to 17 of about 17.
1

manda-may - 15 days ago.
I bit my babies nails... the nail trimmers were far too scary looking! Now they are bigger I can use scissors, but it didn't seem to do them any harm.

Allen - 15 days ago.
You can trim the nails of ur little one by the plastic made Baby scissors. Quality of these scissors is, that they do not harm ur child nails or do not over cut them and they do not create septic or any kind of becteria to harm ur child.... u can buy these scissors from Beauty impex onine beauty store. this link will help u: http://www.beautyimpex.co.uk/106/baby-scissors.html

jellybeanapril6th - 61 days ago.
surely its ok to bite them, how else did the cavemen do it

Mrs.jandrews - 198 days ago.
My son who is 5 1/2 months lays in my lap and lets me trim his nails without fussing!!! I have about 6 years of practice cause I am an ECE in an infant room....so maybe that explains it! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful ladies!

Mother of Mi Raye of Light - 200 days ago.
It's funny how people are being told to bite their baby's nails, but the nurse at the hospital told me not to. Anyway, i can cut my baby's nails while she's awake but she's very active and she's also very impatient so I have to really hold her down to cut them...and I Have to do it fast. She's definitely a scratcher. The other day it looked like she had a fight with a cat. Her nails also grow really fast. I would cut them today and tomorrow it looks like I never did.

happyhayley - 248 days ago.
I cant wait till he's sleeping cause he'll just wake up so we do it while he's eating. One person feeds the other one cuts. But he is bottle fed

tink21 - 274 days ago.
I have no problem cutting my babys nails I just wishI didnt have to do it every 2days. He has a temper so when he gets upset he tries to scratch his checks and ends up with the filthiest nails youve ever seen (from milk on his cheeks) I feel that if I get in the habit of bitting his nail now he might do that as he grows and I dont want him to.

LittleLayla - 274 days ago.
I was told by a nurse at the hospital I gave birth in to bite my little girls nails, when I mentioned that I was afraid to use nail clippers. But I was also afraid to bite them so I mentioned this to my babies Dr. He was very upset That the nurse told me to bite them he said biting was the #1 cause of staff infection!!! And he quickly took down the name of the hospital so he could speak to them about it. I thought some of you might like to know this. If not that's ok to! Lol

Bri - 274 days ago.
I never had a problem clipping nails. Probably because 1. I do it while nursing and 2. because of all the little animals that I've had. When you've had to clip the nails of a dwarf hampster a baby's nail is cake.

teresa08 - 274 days ago.
I was afraid to use the nailclippers in fear I would cut my baby. I was told by many people that they would just bite them so that is what i've done and it works. The easiest time to do it seemed to be when I was holding him and he was asleep.

Bri - 274 days ago.
I don't know...To me it sounds kind of gross....

RobinG - 274 days ago.
I did that too!! It was between biting or filing with a nail file. I never used clippers ~ to easy to cut them ~

Tylers Mum - 274 days ago.
Its common practice in Australia to bite your little ones nails. they are so thin that it only takes a nibble. And its much safer than using sharp clippers or scizzors. its a little daunting at first but quite easy after you do it a couple of times

Elliott-James-mummy - 313 days ago.
I have too trim my sons nails constantly, they grow so quick. I usually do it while he is asleep, although yesterday I managed to do it while he was wide awake. He has a bit of a nasty scratch on his face off his nails, i feel terrible about it, but atleast now I know to check them more often and I actually enjoy doing it, strange or what?

Bri - 313 days ago.
My son has my husband's nails...they grow like a weed. I have to clips his claws every other day! I do it at night before bed while breastfeeding. It's easy cause he's too busy eating. If you don't breastfeed then many moms do it while they are sleeping. As they get older you can make it interesting by a certain song or making a special noise that excited them.

tasha1977 - 313 days ago.
Me too, but you have to do it or they will scratch you up. I have to clip my daughter's nails at least 2 to 3 times a week, they just grow so fast. I think it's the breast milk. LOL

heathert - 313 days ago.
I know that is the one thing I do not enjoy doing and dread having to clip my babies nails.

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